Buochs lies right on Lake Lucerne. The lakeside promenade, various trails and lively village traditions offer different ways to shape your stay: you can explore watersports, choose a route based on its stated characteristics, or plan a visit around a festival date. Buochs also offers various types of accommodation, from a campsite to hotels and holiday apartments.
Lakeside promenade and activities on the water
The Seemeile is a lakeside promenade in Buochs, offering access to a range of watersports experiences and activities on the lake. Buochs-EnnetbĂĽrgen lido has a sandy beach, a diving tower and a raft on the lake. Its facilities also include a large children's playground, a children's paddling pool, a play lawn and beach volleyball.
SUPoint on Lake Lucerne in Buochs offers SUP rentals and sales, as well as courses, tours and repairs. Its programme also includes SUP yoga, SUP Pilates and full-moon SUP experiences. These programme items may vary by season; check in advance which activities are scheduled for your preferred date. Another excursion idea on the Nidwalden lake route is a canoe trip from Buochs, on the lake's Lucerne shore.
Choose trails by distance and character
The “Rund um Buochs” circular trail is 11.0 kilometres long, classified as moderate, and listed as suitable from May to October. Check seasonal trail conditions before setting out. The many standard fruit trees along the route are a striking feature. The trail climbs gradually, with increasingly wide views across the lake. At Ennerberg, the circular trail passes the Loreto Chapel.
Another option is the Aawasserweg, one of the few flat, unpaved trails in the canton of Nidwalden. It is accessible year-round and starts shortly after Dallenwil railway station. The trail passes the covered FadenbrĂĽcke bridge, built in 1855 and bearing the Nidwalden coat of arms, then continues on both sides of the river to the lake at Buochser Aawasseregg. The two trail descriptions therefore differ clearly: for the circular trail, the distance, moderate rating and season are specified; for the Aawasserweg, the flat, unpaved surface and year-round accessibility are highlighted.
There is also a named cycling option: a 2020 tourism brochure describes the Buochserhorn route as one of the most heavily used mountain biking routes in the canton of Nidwalden. It leads from Buochs uphill to Ochsenweid. Check trail conditions and signage before setting off.
Village history and festival dates
The Ă„lplerchilbi was celebrated even before the Ă„lplergesellschaft was founded in 1862, and has retained its traditional form and character to this day. It takes place on the fourth Sunday in October. Since the beginning, traditional offices have been passed down from generation to generation each year. The festival is organised as a thanksgiving for a good summer harvest and as a celebration for the whole village.
The Samichlais procession also follows a recurring date: it takes place every year on the first Friday of Advent, weather permitting. At 6:45 p.m., Samichlais arrives at St. Martin's Church as the Bishop of Myra; he then processes through the village with Treychler bell ringers and Iffelen lantern bearers. As exact start times can change, it is advisable to check them before your visit.
The Catholic parish church of St. Martin was built in Oberdorf between 1802 and 1808 to designs by Niklaus Purtschert. A predecessor church is mentioned in a 1157 document from Engelberg Abbey and has been confirmed by archaeological excavations. At the marina, in the delta of the Engelberger Aa, stands the Wassertor: a bronze-coloured steel sculpture by Johanna Näf.
More discoveries and planning
The Buochs crime trail takes about one hour and 15 minutes to two hours. It starts at the Buochs municipal administration office at Beckenriedstrasse 9. The trail centres on the theft of portraits by Buochs portrait painter Johann Melchior Wyrsch; the paintings date from the late 18th century. Since summer 2008, hikers and other forest visitors have been able to use the rest area at Ebnet-Rain-HĂĽsli.
Anyone interested in gliding can try flying a glider themselves with the Nidwalden Gliding Group from the age of 15, with no formalities; the minimum age may be subject to the operator's rules. Buochs airfield welcomes spontaneous visitors without prior registration on Saturdays and Sundays from mid-March to the end of October. Check these seasonal visitor details before travelling.
Buochs is directly accessible via the A2 motorway. Excursion destinations further afield can be reached by boat, PostBus, mountain railways or car. In Buochs, overnight accommodation is available at the campsite, as well as in hotels and holiday apartments. This lets you match your accommodation choice to your travel plans, without any particular type of accommodation determining your visit to the lake, choice of trail or experience of village traditions.
Discover more destinations: Stans, Wolfenschiessen, Hergiswil, Emmetten, EnnetbĂĽrgen, Ennetmoos, Stansstad, Oberdorf
Back to the main travel overview: Nidwalden.
